I Told You, and You Do Not Believe

John 10:22–42 – That You May Believe
Second Sunday in Lent  – March 16, 2025 (am)     

This passage in John’s Gospel, unlike any number of others, is really not hard to understand. Jesus is posed a direct question (24). He answers (25-30). Then He poses some direct questions in return. The first is answered (33); the rest aren’t, even though they did draw a response (39). We’ll walk through these two sections then finish with what happens next, both then and now, and I think we’ll be both deeply informed and richly blessed along the way.

Jesus Answers a Direct Question from the Jews – 22-31

Jesus is asked a direct question (24) by the Jews present with Him on the covered walkway called Solomon’s colonnade at the time of the Feast of Dedication (Hannukah [22-23]), which had been celebrated since the mid-second-century bc victory of Israel over Syria (Judas Maccabeus over the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes). 24 [They] gathered around [Jesus] and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” I don’t think they were asking for reassurance because He’d been vague. It sounds more like they were trying to get Him to say something that would incriminate him (Carson 1991 238) beyond reasonable doubt. Regardless, 25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. In addition to His words, however, Jesus said: The works that I do in my Father’s name also bear witness about me, 26 but even so, you do not believe. Why? [B]ecause you are not among my sheep.

Do you hear that? They need to be His sheep in order to believe His words and works. It’s not the other way around. It’s not that by hearing His words and observing His works they’ll be persuaded to believe. It’s true that faith comes by hearing and hearing through the word of Christ (Rom.10:17), but that means hearing [according to the gospel] of Christ, hearing [with repentance and faith], not hearing [and being persuaded]. As we saw when we studied Rom., hearing through the word of Christ doesn’t happen unless God sovereignly acts to turn our hearts. Otherwise, we’ll respond just as Paul explains in the next four verses (Rom.10:18-21, quoting Psa.19; Deu.32; Isa.65): apart from God’s sovereign work, no one will turn and believe. People will hear (Rom.10:18). They’ll even understand (Rom.10:19). But none will turn and be saved (6:44). No one will be persuaded even by Jesus’ words and works. Rom.10:21 [Rather] of Israel [God] says (from Isa.65:2), “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.” So, God makes us His sheep (using His words [Rom.10:17] backed by His works), but His prior work needs to happen in order for us to believe. And because these Jews here weren’t part of His flock, [they] do not believe (26).

But before moving on, Jesus comments on those who do believe, and tells us why/how they believe. It’s really sweet, returning to that image of intimate relationship between a good shepherd (11, 14) and His sheep. 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life—there it is, life is given as a gift—and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. Now here it is, re-emphasized and broadened. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. Those who believe have not just been acted upon by a sovereign God to enable their belief—something that would never happen without His intervention—they’ve been given as a gift from the Father to the Son. That’s you and I, my friends, all of us who’ve savingly believed in Jesus.

We marvel at Paul’s experience on the road to Damascus (Act.9:1-19; 22:6-11; 26:12-18), how God saved him and commissioned him to a life of service. And it truly is remarkable. But it’s not unusual. That’s the same thing God does it with each of us. He intervenes in our lives, claims us as His own, and sets us on the course of doing good works, which [He] prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them (Eph.2:10). That’s just how salvation works. But here again (cf. 6:37; 17:6, 9, 24) we pick up an additional detail that’s almost hard to grasp. We’re given as a gift from the Father to the Son.

Lacking that, though, these folk do not believe (26). And, not liking Jesus’ answer: 31 [They] picked up stones again to stone him. But it wasn’t what he said about them that bothered them.

Jesus Poses Direct Questions to the Jews – 32-39

And Jesus knew that. So, He delayed their advance by posing His own questions that got to the heart of their concern. But it also exposed the heart of their hypocrisy. 32 Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?” This is a great question. He is at once claiming that all he has done has been the work of God, [underscoring] v.30, and at the same time He’s demanding that his accusers [think through] his life and find anything objectionable. Isn’t there something really wrong with objecting on religious grounds to the healing of long-term paralytics and the curing of someone born blind? (Carson 1991 396)

But Jesus’ question didn’t bring that difficulty to their minds. 33 The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.” So, Jesus appealed to the OT again showing them not only the inconsistency of their thinking but the stubbornness of their hearts. 34 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, Psa.82, ‘I said, you are gods’? 35 If he called them gods to whom the word of God came, likely referring to Israel receiving God’s word at Sinai, having already been called His firstborn Son (Exo.4:22) (Carson 1991 398)—and Scripture cannot be broken—36 do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? He’s not making a case here. He’s just jolting out of their mob frenzy (Carson 1991 399). Then He proceeds to ask: 37 If I am not doing the works of my Father, strange as that sounds when He just healed a man born blind (c.9), then do not believe me; 38 but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” He’s saying: Maybe you find it hard to receive what I’m saying about myself, but if my works are the works of God, at least recognize that I’m representing Him. Recognize that He alone can enable what you’re watching Me do.

So, what’s their response? 39 Again they sought to arrest him, …

What Happens Next, Then and Now – 40-42

… but he escaped from their hands. Here, with heated opposition suggesting that His hour (2:4; 7:30; 8:20) may be drawing near, but in indication of the fact that it hadn’t yet arrived: 40 [Jesus] went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing at first, and there he remained. … 42 And many believed in him there. That ends this present exchange, but it leaves us with an insightful and compelling takeaway today that stands in complement to the richly intimate understanding that the Father has gifted us to the Son. It roots us more deeply in our appreciation for the divine nature of the salvation we’ve not only received but are commissioned to proclaim. And it’s a pretty profound entailment of that same collection of insights, something we need to process.

What we need to notice here is that wrong ideas about Jesus do not result in unbelief. It’s actually the other way around: unbelief results in wrong ideas about Jesus. The unbelief of the people Jesus was talking with here wasn’t rooted in a lack of understanding of Who He is but in lack of trust in Who He is. Thus, their opposition to Him couldn’t be resolved by information and observation but only by repentance and faith. In short, it wasn’t ignorance that produced their unbelief, but unbelief that produced their ignorance. They didn’t believe what Jesus said and did because they hadn’t trusted in Who He is. That’s what Jesus Himself told them: 26 … you do not believe because you are not among my sheep.

That insight is so important for us to understand, especially as we’re bearing witness to the gospel among the unbelievers in our lives. We can tell them the stories of Jesus and answer their questions about Him and His Word and His world, but that isn’t going to produce faith. As we share, we need to be seeking God to open their eyes so that they may understand, to grant them repentance that they may turn from their sin (cf. 2Ti.2:25), to grant them faith that they might trust and believe in Him (cf. Eph.2:8-9).

We can struggle mightily with this idea; life in this world just seems to progress differently than that. How can God have that much control over what happens in this world, and in our lives, while it seems like we have all sorts for freedoms to choose, and see causes and effects all around us? Job and his friends struggled similarly. But God finally answered them with four chapters full of questions that began with: Job 38:4 Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. 5 Who determined its measurement—surely you know! … And on He went, reminding Job that He has no inkling of the grandeur and splendor of the nature and being and wisdom of God.

Still, we can struggle saying: But surely we have a choice in our salvation, suggesting that it’s only smaller matters in which God is sovereign, leaving the greater matters, indeed the greatest, up to us on some level. But when we hear that’s just not how Scripture speaks of it, we can say: But that’s not fair. How can God hold us accountable if He’s the One Who saves? (Rom.9:19) This time He answers through Paul: Rom.9:20 … [W]ho are you… to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” And he continues on to explain how it works (Rom.9:21-29).

It’s just really hard for us to come to grips with the fact that there’s literally no one who seeks God on his own (Rom.3:10-11). But there are two things for which we can be really thankful. First, God is the One Who makes it all work. That’s what Jesus is showing us here. God knows us. He loves us. He saves us. He secures us. And He guarantees our life with Him eternally when His clock finally runs out on this maddeningly confusing world. And second, He’s entirely trustworthy in His saving work. He is good. He’s wise. He’s merciful and just, all in perfect proportion. He knows all. He’s able to do this well even though we can’t even imagine how. But He’s tried to tell us. Isa.55:8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. He can do it because He’s not just a great big one of us. He’s entirely other. He’s God. And He’s chosen us!

Conclusion

There is our deeply informing and richly blessed take away today. Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow.

 __________________

Resources

Arnold, Clinton E., gen. ed. 2002. Zondervan Illustrated Bible Background Commentary. Vol. 2, John, Acts. John, by Andreas J. Köstenberger, 2-196. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

Barclay, William. 1975. The Daily Study Bible Series. The Gospel of John, Revised Edition. Louisville: Westminster John Knox.

Beale, G. K., & D. A. Carson, eds. 2007. Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament. John, by Andreas J. Köstenberger, 415-512. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic.

Bruce, F. F. 1983. The Gospel of John. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

                  , Gordon D. Fee, & Ned B. Stonehouse, gen. eds. 1995. The New International Commentary on the New Testament. The Gospel According to John, Revised Edition, by Leon Morris. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

Calvin, John. 1553. Commentary on the Gospel According to John, trans. by, William Pringle. Logos.

Carson, D. A., gen. ed. 1991. The Pillar New Testament Commentary. The Gospel According to John, by D. A. Carson. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

                  , R. T. France, J. A. Motyer, & G. J. Wenham, eds. 1994. New Bible Commentary 21st Century Edition. John, by Donald Guthrie, 1021-1065. Leicester, Eng.: InterVarsity.

Clendenen, Ray E., gen. ed. 1996. The New American Commentary. Vol. 25, John, by Gerald L. Borchert. Nashville: Broadman & Holman.

Dever, Mark. 2005. The Message of the New Testament. Ch. 4, The Message of John: Jesus, the Son of God, 101-122. Wheaton: Crossway.

Grudem, Wayne, ed. 2008. ESV Study Bible. Study notes on John, 2015-2072, by Andreas J. Köstenberger. Wheaton: Crossway.

Longman III, Tremper, & David E. Garland, eds. 2007. Revised Expositor’s Bible Commentary. Vol. 10, Luke-Acts. John, by Robert H. Mounce, 357-661. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

Martin, Ralph P., & Lynn Allan Losie, NT eds. 1999. Word Biblical Commentary. Vol. 36, John, Second Edition, by George R. Beasley-Murray. Dallas: Word.

Morris, Leon, gen. ed. 2003. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries. Vol. 4, John, by Colin G. Kruse. Downers Grove: InterVarsity.

Osborne, Grant, ed. 1993. Life Application Bible Commentary. John, by Bruce B. Barton, Philip W. Comfort, David R. Veerman, & Neil Wilson. Wheaton: Tyndale.

Tasker, R. V. G. 2000. Tyndale New Testament Commentary. Vol. 4, John. Leicester, Eng.: InterVarsity.

Tenney, Merrill C. 1976. John: The Gospel of Belief. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

NEXT SUNDAY: A Faith That is Larger Than Life, John 11:1-44 , Steve Leston